Here we go again! Nolemana and I wandered around the grounds before the parade was to start so that we could see some of the tractors up close.

This is one of my very favorite steam tractors. Itʻs absolutely huge!

I love the canopy on this one. You’ll see more photos of it later.

This one looks kinda like a gigantic milk can! But I don’t know anything more about it, except that it’s ‘way cool.

The driver was getting it into place for the parade.

This guy was getting lined up, too.

Now, I gotta tell you folks something about the parade. It’s a really, really, big deal. It usually lasts for a couple of hours, and if you’re sitting in the grandstand, you can hear all the information about each tractor/engine from the announcement booth.

Try look the size of this one! I don’t think I’d be able to climb up there!

What a beauty this one! I bet when it was actually a working tractor it wasn’t this clean!

Ho. Anybody like wash clothes like this? 1922 Maytag. I bet it was a real time-saver back then, though. But I found out that the clothes were never rinsed! Just wash ’em in this and hang ’em out on the line! “Wachu mean yoa jeans still dirty? I wen wash um!!”

Now it was time for the parade. We could’ve sat in the grandstand where we’d be right across from the announcement booth, where the guys told all about the tractors that came by. But it was hot and really loud there, so we opted for shade and more quiet by the swap meet. However, that meant we couldn’t really hear what was said about each tractor that went by.

The parade always starts with a color guard, and people stand, take off their hats, and sometimes put their hands over their hearts. Which I love, because this is what I always did growing up in Hawaiʻi. Love of country.

Across the road was this horseless carriage. So cool. I took the photo while waiting for the tractors to come along.

My heart was pounding! It was so exciting to see these wonderful old tractors coming right in front of us. The parade is arranged so that all the oldest steam tractors come first, and the air was filled with their chuggings and pops and churnings. Farm history, and we got to see it close up!

An old Russell tractor.

Now I going give you a real treat! Yep! I took videos so that you could experience all the sounds and excitement that we did.

Here’s the “milk wagon” again.

The tractors just crawl along so that people can get a really good look at them. Try look the ash burner da kine on the top of this one’s “smoke stack”. So fascinating!

6 Responses to The Great Oregon Steam-Up, Part Two

My grandma had a much later version of a wringer washer like the one you showed there – it was on wheels so she could wheel it up to the sink to attach the filling hose (and to drain it). It was pink. Yes, washing clothes was a lot more of a pain than with an automatic washer but when I was a kid I thought the wringer part was kind of cool. Except it did sometimes crack the buttons on things….

People’s ingenuity is fascinating. I was surprised at how slowly they move – I didn’t expect speed control to be that refined on something that was steam powered. I also expected them to be noisier. Maybe they’re noisier if they go faster.